Loading machine



IAWENTORl A.v M. Gow

LOADING -MACHINE Filed Jan. 16. 1919 NOV. 69

Nov. 6, 1923.

A'. M. GOW

LOADING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTOR.lerczfzder JPZ Gozo.

W1 TNESSES.-

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Nov. 6 E923.

A. M. GOVV LOADING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENToR.

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Patented Nov.. t3, 1923.

"till agr.:

ALEXANDER M. GOW, 0F DULUTH, MINNESOTA; AMERICAN EXCHANGE NATONL BANK OFDULUTH EXEC'UTORS OF SAID ALEXANDER M. GOW, DECMSED.

LOADING MACHINE.

Application filed January 16, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it knovvn that 1, ALnXANnnn M. Gow. acitizen ot the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county ot St.Louis and State ot lvlinnesota, have invented certain new and use-fulImprovements in Loading' lilachiues, ot which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a loading machine and is particularly designedtor use underground in mines where the space in which it is to operateis limited and the niaterial difficult to shovel by hand into tram cars.

One object ot the invention is to simplify and improve loading machineswhereby the various parts `thereof cooperate in a novel manner and inwhich the greatest power may be transmitted to the shovel ot the loadingmachine at. the. time ot greatest resistance.

' Another object is to provide a simple, durable and compact loadingmachine adapted to meet successfully the requirements for its particularuse.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the mechanismdisclosed on the accompanying sheets ot drawings, in Which- Figure 1 isa side elevation ot my loading machine.

Figure 2 is a side elevation ot the same machine with the shovel indumping' position.

Figure 3 is a plan view ot the same machine With the parts arranged asshown in full lines in Figure 1`v and Figure 4 is a rear end view otmachine.

The various novel features ot my invention Will he apparent from thefollowing description and drawings and will he particularl pointed outin the appended claims.

'lphe parts ot my machine are essentiallyY a truck resting upon theusual tracks. a platform mounted upon the truck pivoted at one end andadapted to swing laterally. a thrusting cylinder having a piston rodcarrying a shovel or dipper` the c vlinder heine: pivotallv mounted onthe platt'orui. au arm adapted to siviujf in a vertical plane rarrlviupTa link connected to th(` shovel. a rotatin g cylinder adapted hv meansolI a rack and gear to rotate the arm. the c vliuder being mounted uponthe platform. and a cushioningl or a cataract cylinder adapted to checkthe same Serial No. 271,351.

or steady the motion of the parts at lider/ent stages of the operation.

The truck comprises four Wheels 10, two side frames 11, a rear cross bar12 connecting said side frames and a front cross bar 13 connecting theforward portion of said side frames. rThe platform 14 is pivoted to therear cross bar 12 by a vertically arranged king bolt 15, and rests uponthe front cross bar 13 through rollers 16. The rear tace of the frontcross bar 13 carries a curved rack 17. Meshing With the rack 17 is agear 18 mounted on a vertical shaft 19 which is supported bythe'plattorm 14. Upon this vertical shaft 19 also is mounted a sprocketWheel 2O driven by a sprocket chain 21, said chain also passing around asprocket Wheel 23 mounted upon one end of a vertical operating shaft,22. The upper end of this shaft 23 is adapted to receive a Wrench (notshown). lt is obvious that. if the shaft 22 is rotated, motion will betransmitted through the sprocket Wheel 23, chain 21 and sprocket Wheel2O to gear 18. Rack 17 being stationary, the plattorm14 Will be rotatedon the king bolt 15 to one side or the other depending upon thedirection of the rotation ot the shaft 22.

A thrusting cylinder 24 at its rear end is pivotally connected at 25 tothe platform 14 Aso that the cylinder may oscillate in a vertical plane.The piston mounted Within the thrusting cylinder 24 has a piston rod 26.to the outer end of which is secured a shovel or dipper 27. 't isapparent theretore, that when the piston is reciprocatedback and forthin the thrusting cylinder 24, the, shovel 27 will he actuated in thesame sense.

This thrustingr cylinder is mounted centrally with respect to theplatform 14 and is interposed between two cylinders 28 which ma;y hecalled rotating cylinders, their tunetion being to raise and swing theshovel 27 over the machine proper tor dumping' purposes and to lowersaine preparatory to a thrustingr or digging action. These cylinders 2Sare mounted on the platform 14 and have pistons which are operativelyconnected to a cross head 29 to which is secured or with which there isintegrally formed two racks 30 which are reciprocated in accorcianeevith the movement ot the cross head 29. inclined. the highest portionthereot being" to the rear of the machine. Each ot these .lt will benoted that the racks R0 are g racks 30 meshes with an eccentric gear 31,each one of' said gears being mounted upon a separate shaft 32. An arm33 is secured to each one ot the gears 3l and moved 1n unison therewithin a vertical plane. The outer ends of these arms are connected to eachother, and secured to the outer ends ot these arms 83 are links 34 whichlinks are connected to braces 35 secured to opposite sides of or forminga part of the shovel 2T. It is obviousthat regardless of the position ofthe shovel 27 the forward movement ot the pistons in cylinders 28 willcause the racks 30 to move forwardly rotating the gears 31 and causingthe outer ends ot arms 33 to move in the arc of a circle, therebycarrying the shovel from aposition in front of the machine backwardlyover the machine to a dumping position, as shown in Figure 2, thusdumping the cont-ents of the shovel into an suitable receptacle such asa tram car 51.

n the top ot each of the rotating cylinders 28 is mounted a check orcataract cylinder 38 having pistons` the rods of which are secured tothe cross head 29, consequently the pistons in the cylinders 38 move inunison with the pistons in the rotating cylinders 28. At each end of thecylinders 38 is a release cock 39. Obviously it the release cocks areclosed the pistons in cylinders 38 will tend to compress air and offerresistance to the motion transmitted to the pistons in cylinders 28. Theamount that the cocks 39 are open will determine the amount ofresistance. It desired liquid may be used in the cylinder and theopposite ends of each cylinder connected by a pipe thus forming a deviceknown as the cataract cylinder. It will be understood that I do notlimit myseliq to the use of any particular type of check device.

This machine preferably is operated by compressed air. A pipe 4() isprovided for air hose connections in the usual manner thus applying airto the two-tour way valves 41 and 42. Valve 41 is so designed that thebackward movement ot' its handle 44 will cause air to pass through apipe 4?) to the rear end of each of the cylinders 28 and upon a forwardmovement will cause air to be supplied to the trout end of each ot saidcylinders. i Accordingly if valve handle 44 is thrown rearwardly airwill be admitted to the rear end of each of the cylinders 28 causing thecross head 29 and racks 30 to move forwardly, the eccentric gears 31thereby being rotated in a clockwise direction, arms 83 thereby beingraised and the dipper or shovel 27 moved upwardly and rearwardly overthe machine to the dumping position shown in Figure 2. If the valve 4lis now moved into forward position air will he passed to the front ofthe cylinder and the shovel will be returned forwardly to it-s lowerposition. Valve 42 having a handle 45 controls the passage ot air to thethrusting cylinder 24. It the handle be moved into a forward positionthe shovel will be thrust 'forwardly and if the 4handle is movedrearwardly the shovel will be moved rearwardly. These machines ofnecessity are operated by men of no mechanical training, many of whomcannot speak'English. It is nccesary therefore that the method ofoperation be simplified tothe utmost limit and the dangers incident tofalse moves be reduced to a minimum.

By the use ot theeccentric gears 3l operated by the diagonal or inclinedracks 30,4

I am enabled to develop and transmit the greatest amount of power at thetime ot greatest resistance. In this connection it will be understoodthat when the shovel is down and extended Yforwardly and has a fullload. the greatest amount of power is required to raise the shovel.lVith my arrangement the leverage at this time is the greatest. As theshovel is raised and the eccentric gears 3l ride up on the inclinedracks 30, the leverage decreases. It will be appreciated that it thegears were made circular the length of the racks necessarily would beincreased beyond the limits ot the machine. However, by providing theeccentric gears and inclined racks, it is possible to providetransmission mechanism operable within the limits of the machine whichmechanism develops and causes distribution ot power in proportion to theresistance to be overcome. I do not limit myself to the'arangenientshown but claim broadly any means whereby the arm 33 may be caused toswing in a vertical plane to move the dipper from a digging to a dumpingposition.

In connection with the operation of the machine, the loader having beenplaced within reach of the ore to be loaded. the shovel may be swung tothe right. or left by means of actuating the shaft 22` the shovelthereby heilig moved to a point at which it is desired to dig. The valvehandle 45 is moved forward and the shovel 2T accordingly is thrustforwardly. It it meets no resistance greater than it can overcome theshovel will till with dirt or ore. The

valve handle 45 then may be turned to the neutral position which is thatshown in the drawings and that position occupied by the handle whichpermits no fluid to pass in either direction. Valve handle 44 may thenbe thrown rearwardly, arms 33 accordingly being swung upwardly exertinga pull on the braces 35 tending both to litt the shovel and withdraw itYfrom the pile. As thc shovel is raised the piston rod 2G returns intothe cvliuder The shovel travels to the rcar of the machine and ovcr thetop thereof whereby 1t dumps its. load into the tram By reversing thevalve 4l the shovel CHI.

lll)

is returned to a (ligging position. Let it be supposed that during aforward thrust of the shovel an obstruction such as a rock which itcannot overcome is encountered. Under such conditions the valve handle44 is moved rearwardly thus raising the arms 33 and the shovel 2T untilthe obstruction is cleared. Obviously too, the forward and backwardmotion of the dipper can be accomplished at any height above the groundleve During the operation of the machine a stop is placed on the railsback of the machine to prevent its being forced rearwardly by theforward push of the thrusting cylinder. To move the machine forwardlythe shovel is extended and held by a bar and then air is admitted to thefront end of the thrusting cylinder thus pulling the machine forwardly.

It is my intention to cover all moditi cations of the invention fallingwithin the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. In a loading machine, the combination of a truck, a thrustingcylinder pivotally mounted on said truck for vertical swinging movement,a shovel operatively connected to said thrusting cylinder, andoperatively associated cylinders on opposite sides of said thrustingcylinder and operatively connected to the shovel for raising the sameover the truck for dumping purposes, and at the same time swinging thethrusting cylinder about its pivot.

2. In a loading machine, the combination vof a truck, a thrustingcylinder pivotally connected thereto and having a piston with a rod, ashovel rigidly mounted on said piston rod, and operatively connectedpower units on opposite sides of -said thrusting cylinder operatively'connected to said shovel for raising the shovel over the truck fordumping purposes, the piston rod to which the shovel is connected movinginto the cylinder as the shovel is lifted.

3. In a loading machine, the combination of a truck, a platformpivotally mounted thereon for lateral movement, means for moving saidplatform laterally, a thrusting y cylinder pivotally mounted on saidlatforin for vertical swinging movement, a s ovel operatively -connectedto the piston of said thrusting cylinder whereby the shovel may bemoved'in a direction for taking a load, and power units mounted on saidplatform on opposite sides of said thrusting cylinder for swinging` saidshovel over the truck for dumping the load.

si. In a loading machine, the combination of a truck, a platformpivotally mounted thereon for lateral movement, means for moving saidplatform laterally, a thrusting cylinder pivotally mounted on saidplatform for vertical swinging movement, a shovel operatively connectedto the piston of said thrusting cylinder whereby the shovel may be movedin a direction for taking a load. and power units mounted on saidplatform on opposite sides of said thrusting cylinder for swinging saidshovel over the truck for dumping the load, said power units includingoperatively connected eccentric gears and inclined racks whereby thelifting leverage exerted upon the shovel is varied as the shoveltravels.

5. In a loadin machine, the combination of a truck inclu ing sidefra-mes and cross bars, one of said cross bars having a rack formedthereon, a platform ivotally connected to said truck rand havingoperating mechanism including a gear meshing with said rack whereby theplat-form may be moved laterally, a shovel, a thrusting cylinderoperatively connected to said shovel and being pivotally connected tosaid platform for vertical swinging movement, and power means forswinging said shovel and cylinder over the platform for dumpingpurposes.

6. In a loading machine, the combination of a truck including sideframes and cross bars, one of said cross bals having a rack formedthereon, a platform pivotally connected to said truck and havingoperating mechanism including a gear meshing 'with said rack whereby theplatform may be moved laterally, a shovel, a thrusting cylinderoperatively c/onnected to said shovel and being pivotally connected tosaid platform for vertical swinging movement. and power means forswinging said shovel over the plat` form for dumping purposes, saidpower means including an eccentric gear and an inclined rack in meshtherewith.

7. In a loading machine, the combination l of a dipper, a piston rodrigidly secured thereto, a pivotally mounted cylinder for actuating thepiston rod back and forth, an arm pivotally mounted above the cylinder,a link connecting the arm and the dipper, and means whereby the arm maybe moved in a vertical plane to cause movement of the dipper from a.Adigging to a dumping position.

8. In a loading machine, the combination l' of a dipper, a luidactuating cylinder for moving the dipper forward and backward. saidcylinder capable of motion in a vertical plane, and a second fluidactuating cylinder adapted by the motion of its piston to move thedipper from a digging position in front of the Ina-chine through avertical plane into a dumping position in the rear of the machine.

9. In a loading machine. the combination of a truck` a platform mountedon the truck; mechanism whereby the platform may be moved in ahorizontal plane upon the truck; a cylinderpivotally mounted on theplatform and capable cfmovement in a vertical plane; a flipper adaptedto be moved` order and clipper to travel in a vertical pla-ne Ward andback by the piston rod of said from a digging to a dumping position :mdcylinder; a shaft located above and transits rot-ation in the otherdirection from a 10 versely to said cylinder; means for rotating dumpingto a digging position.

5 the shaft; and link connections between the Signed at Duluth, Minn.,this 11th day of Shaft and clipper whereby the rotation of the January,1919. shafg in one direction shall cause the cylin- ALEXANDER M. GUW.

